May 8, 2022 - ChaddsFordLive.com

U-CF music program recognized

Unionville-Chadds Ford School District was honored with the Best Communities for Music Education designation from The NAMM Foundation for its outstanding commitment to music education. Now in its 23rd year, the Best Communities for Music Education designation is awarded to districts that demonstrate outstanding achievement in efforts to provide music access and education to all students.

To qualify for the Best Communities designation, Unionville-Chadds Ford School District answered detailed questions about funding, graduation requirements, music class participation, instruction time, facilities, support for the music program, and community music-making programs. Responses were verified with school officials and reviewed by The Music Research Institute at the University of Kansas.

“We are honored to receive this prestigious designation from the NAMM Foundation,” said Superintendent of Schools John Sanville. “Our teachers are some of the best and have created programs at each of our schools and at every level that provide exceptional musical opportunities to learn and perform. Our students have earned several musical accolades for their talents and student involvement in our music programs overall has never been greater! This can only be attributed to our passionate teachers and their work to provide a meaningful and quality music program at UCFSD.”

Since the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) in 2015 and a stated emphasis on a well-rounded education, many school districts have re-committed to music and arts education programs. During the pandemic, music and arts programs were a vital component to keeping students engaged in school. ESSA provides designated funding for well-rounded educational opportunities through Title IV Part A Student Academic Success and Achievement grants. NAMM Foundation research has revealed that these grants are being widely used by school districts to address instructional gaps in access to music and arts education.

Madeleine Day, a junior involved in the music program at Unionville High School shared, “To me, music education is incredibly important because it exposes students to music early on so that they can develop a well-rounded education. Students in our district are given the opportunity to express themselves creatively and build their self-esteem through something they are passionate about. At a young age in elementary school, we were exposed to numerous instruments and singing styles. This helped my appreciation and love for music grow. I am eternally grateful for our district’s music department and it has truly changed my life.”

Research into music education continues to demonstrate educational/cognitive and social skill benefits for children who make music: After two years of music education, researchers found that participants showed more substantial improvements in how the brain processes speech and reading scores than their less-involved peers and that students who are involved in music are not only more likely to graduate high school, but also to attend college as well. Everyday listening skills are stronger in musically trained children than in those without music training. Significantly, listening skills are closely tied to the ability to: perceive speech in a noisy background, pay attention, and keep sounds in memory. Later in life, individuals who took music lessons as children show stronger neural processing of sound: young adults and even older adults who have not played an instrument for up to 50 years show enhanced neural processing compared to their peers. Not to mention, social benefits include conflict resolution, teamwork skills, and how to give and receive constructive criticism.

“Students have an innumerable amount of experiences if they pursue music,” said Unionville High School Band Director Eddie Otto. “There are studies that show test scores improve with participation in ensembles, that music is one of the only subjects that engages both sides of the brain at a high level, or that participation in music helps to get into college, but music can be so much more than that to a person. Students may find a lifelong passion, friendships, and memories in the pursuit of music. They develop leadership, a mature work ethic, social skills, time management skills, teamwork skills, etc. the list goes on and on. There is no bench in music and every part is equally important. Every participant is equally important and students experience the performance and emotions of music while also providing it for an audience. That is pretty indescribable and I am incredibly lucky to be able to be a small part of that experience for our kids at Unionville-Chadds Ford.”

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Rabbinic Reflections: American and

Melting pot or tossed salad? I grew up when American society seemed to shift from thinking about itself as a melting pot where immigrant identities blended together with American culture, adding some flavor by contributing to a relatively homogeneous fondue. The shift was toward what was then called multiculturalism in which racial and ethnic identities were seen as whole entities crucial to an intricate mosaic of what America was meant to be. The tossed salad metaphor offered to keep the food image going while showing how different lettuces, nuts, legumes, vegetables, fruits, dressings, and garnishes enhance the salad even as they retain their unique identities. Looking back, I am not sure either metaphor captured what it meant to be American along with other Americans.

Since 2006, May has been “Jewish American Heritage Month,” (even though it was already Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month), and it’s been a favorite of mine. Long before it was officially a way to celebrate, I found May to be a time when I got to celebrate being Jewish and being American. Israel and America both have a Memorial Day in May; the coincidence provides an opportunity for comparison. Inevitably, in marking Israel’s Memorial Day (which is followed immediately by its Independence Day) I find myself more aware of the losses of those who died for America and appreciative of the ideals they fought to protect. My Jewish connection to Israel makes me more patriotically American. Then Heritage Month itself reminds me of the many contributions of Jews to America. In the arts, in politics, in business, in science and technology, and elsewhere, these contributions are the other side of the coin of America being a land of opportunity for Jews. Is it any wonder that I come away proud to be a Jew and proud to be an American?

A big piece of that pride was moving beyond the challenges of the melting pot and tossed salad metaphors for my identity. I never liked choosing Jewish or American as primary or arguing the grammar of adjective versus noun. Just as challenging was hyphenating Jewish and American in Jewish-American, somehow making me feel less American and also less Jewish. There are so many other identities one might choose to highlight or might find left out of such hyphenations. A few years after the first Jewish American Heritage Month, I learned how many people were using computer tabs or windows as a metaphor for talking about their identities. Sometimes one window or tab is open and in front, other times it moves back. Sometimes two windows are open next to each other. So, too, with our identities: the many ways we present in the world can shift and need not be reduced to one or two (hyphenated) identities.

This May, because of my encounters with antisemitism, it’s true that I find myself less comfortable presenting my Jewish identity outwardly. I do not feel any less Jewish, though. Nor do I feel any less American. While I wonder about what it means to be a Jew in America today, I do not cease to hold either identity. Rather, I find myself holding on firmer to what it means to be an American, AND I rely on the Jewish teaching that “the essence (of life) is not to be afraid.” I am American, and I am Jewish, and I am grateful to be both and more.

About Rabbi Jeremy Winaker

Rabbi Jeremy Winaker is the executive director of the Greater Philadelphia Hillel Network, responsible for West Chester University, Haverford, Bryn Mawr, and other area colleges. He is the former head of school at the Albert Einstein Academy in Wilmington and was the senior Jewish educator at the Kristol Hillel Center at the University of Delaware for four years. Rabbi Winaker lives in Delaware with his wife and three children.